Dr. Tracy M. Frech

Medical Advisor

Dr. Tracy M Frech is delighted to join the Steffens Scleroderma Foundation. She trained at the University of Utah for internal medicine and pediatrics residency, adult rheumatology fellowship, and a holds an MS in clinical investigation. Dr. Frech’s primary goal in research and clinical care is early diagnosis and effective health care delivery to the systemic sclerosis (SSc) population. Her specific research interest is to better understand the natural history of symptomatic vasculopathy in SSc. To that end, through collaborations with Prospective Registry of Early SSc (PRESS), the Inception SYstemic Sclerosis Cohort (INSYNC), the Collaborative Quality and Efficacy National Registry (CONQUER) for SSc, and the Utah Vascular Research Laboratory (UVRL). Her academic career focuses on improvements in diagnosis and treatment of SSc through meticulous patient phenotyping. Dr. Frech’s 15 year tenure as Director of the University of Utah SSc Clinic, principal investigator of multiple clinical trials, participation in several international collaborative efforts, has identified the importance of outcome definitions and data standardization for effectively monitoring and treating SSc patients.

Dr. Frech is currently seeing SSc patients at Vanderbilt University, her primary academic appointment. She also serves as an adjunct associate professor at the University of Utah. She presents her research at national and international scientific meetings as well as at patient outreach conferences.  She is passionate about clinical and translational research in SSc, and believes precision medicine techniques hold promise for discovery in SSc.  Dr. Frech is dedicated to teaching medical students, residents, and fellows in clinic, as well as through their research projects. Her aim is to develop the next generation of academic rheumatologists committed to clinical and research excellence and compassionate health care delivery.